AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Gun Building => Topic started by: davec2 on April 18, 2022, 07:25:00 AM
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A while back (October of last year) I posted my adventures in making up a 2.75" reamer to correct a flaw in the bore of my lite six pounder full size cannon. If you missed the thread, here is a link https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=68075.0
I noted the following in the preamble to that thread......
"I really need another project like I need another root canal......nonetheless, I have begun a refurbishment of the full size cannon I built 50 years ago when I was a junior in high school. Don't ask me why after 50 years I have to do this now, but there are some issues with the gun that have bothered me for 50 years and if I don't get to correcting them now....well.....i don't need to explain any of that to this crowd."
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So, many of you have seen these pictures before, but here is the cannon again for those who may not have seen it.......
(https://i.ibb.co/TTcMQFc/Cannon-Shoot-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/rtk2B1k)
(https://i.ibb.co/Bs3R0Py/Cannon-Shoot-3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/QmQGycP)
This is the continuation of the story. First of all, at the end of the cannon bore reaming thread I had asked the ALR crowd about Teslong bore scopes. Because of the positive feedback I received, I purchased one and used it to do a much more thorough examination of the bore. Although the diameter of the bore had been corrected to a consistent 2.75", I didn't like some of the porosity I was seeing in the wall at various points. I had been shooting the gun for 50 years with heavy and light charges including charges up to 1.25 pounds of powder behind a 2.75 inch zinc ball....fairly stout for a non combat situation. In all of that, I never had reason to doubt the safety of the barrel. But this gun was cast in 1970 and, since then, almost all the barrels I have seen, iron or brass or bronze, have had steel liners with a welded breech installed. Since I was now intending to correct a lot of the cosmetic deficiencies on the cannon carriage, I decided that it would be best to line the barrel as well. So the reaming exercise had been a bit of wasted effort but I had learned a lot in the process.
Now re-boring and lining this barrel was far beyond the capability of the machines I own, or have available to me, and demands some specialized skills. So I called Mr. James Olsen at South Bend Replicas (where the barrel was originally cast under the tutelage of Mr. Paul Barnett at what was then "Barney's Cannons"). Jim agreed to rebore the gun to 3.25 inches and install a 1/4" thick DOM steel liner with a welded breech. So last week, I built a substantial crate and managed to wrestle the 600 pounds of barrel off the carriage and into the box. After sealing it up, a friend and I delivered it to a trucking company for shipment back to South Bend.
Although that all sounds fairly simple, picking the 600 pound gun barrel up safely off the carriage by myself was not an inconsequential task, so there is some back story..... In 1994, when the Northridge earthquake hit my area, my chimney had broken off at the withers, there was a fair amount of other structural damage inside the house, and the ridge pole in my garage had snapped in two partially collapsing the garage roof. In the process of fixing the garage ridge pole, I had jacked up the broken beam, slipped a second 2 x 12 under it, and then glued and screwed 3/4" plywood stiffeners on both sides of the double beams between the rafters to amalgamate them into a single 3" x 22" ridge beam. With that much beefing up, I figured that ridge pole could take an additional 600 pounds of load.....so I drilled a 2 inch hole through the beam near its top edge and in the center of the garage. With a chain rove through the hole, I hung a ratchet chain hoist on it and used that set up to lift the gun off the carriage.....
(https://i.ibb.co/BzgQY9X/image-67225089.jpg) (https://ibb.co/8KjfQHW)
(https://i.ibb.co/sCbG8Pm/image-50772993.jpg) (https://ibb.co/XDjgc42)
(https://i.ibb.co/xHSbYjN/image-50730241.jpg) (https://ibb.co/pyvTQzS)
(https://i.ibb.co/z2gz6k1/image-50427137.jpg) (https://ibb.co/s14ZWBh)
(https://i.ibb.co/PQ9VHNk/image-67236609.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2Nsp4yJ)
The barrel is now on its way to South Bend. While Jim is doing the lining work, I will continue with the re-build and corrections to the gun carriage itself which will involve a lot of iron and wood work and will keep you posted.
Again to the Moderators, if this doesn't belong in the "Gun Building" section, please move it to wherever you think best.
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I remember that cannon from a football game. At least I think it was a football game. Long time ago but it was very inspirational to me! Looks like a fun project.
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Brian.....Yes....when I built this cannon I took it to my high school football games. The intent was to fire a blank charge every time we got a touchdown....but our team wasn't all that good, so I started to fire the gun anytime anybody got a touchdown !....or at the end of each quarter..... :) ;) That was in 1970 and 1971 in Southern California when a high school kid could drive up with a trailer towing a full size cannon and 50 pounds of black powder and everybody cheered. These days the bomb squad, SWAT team, and the Feds would show up and surround the place. Times have changed.... :-\
Did you go to high school here in So Cal ?
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That is a GREAT looking cannon, Dave.
Cannons are now prohibited weapons in Canukistan.
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Sad to hear of that Daryl. What became of the one you and your brother mentioned shooting at the rendezvous?
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Brian.....Yes....when I built this cannon I took it to my high school football games. The intent was to fire a blank charge every time we got a touchdown....but our team wasn't all that good, so I started to fire the gun anytime anybody got a touchdown !....or at the end of each quarter..... :) ;) That was in 1970 and 1971 in Southern California when a high school kid could drive up with a trailer towing a full size cannon and 50 pounds of black powder and everybody cheered. These days the bomb squad, SWAT team, and the Feds would show up and surround the place. Times have changed.... :-\
Did you go to high school here in So Cal ?
Fellow Eagle... Class of 74.
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That's a very fine looking cannon, I like it. Man, but you put a lot of time and effort on it!
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I love it!
I’m sure that would be very expensive to reproduce today. But I’d still like to have one!
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Dave, looking at that beautiful gun carriage, I just have to ask - do you have a pair of Belgians or Clydesdales to tow it around? I am sure some of the Amish farmers here in Ohio would be happy to sell you a pair, and the harness to go with them.
Now, THAT would be stylish!
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Sad to hear of that Daryl. What became of the one you and your brother mentioned shooting at the rendezvous?
Taylor traded his 3" cannon for a violin decades ago. Lately we were shooting a 'replica' of a field piece, with a smallish 1 1/2" bore
belonging to a local chap. We won the shoot a couple years in a row until the main club we were shooting at, stopped the practice.
This is that 1 1/2" bored gun.
IIRC, we managed about a 10" group at 100 meters using lead balls patched in heavy denim (of course). ;D
The sights are removed after alignment.
That's Taylor & our own Hatchet Jack, the owner of the cannon.
(https://i.ibb.co/5TYCDDx/P9020327.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Mn8KTT5)
(https://i.ibb.co/RT9tgch/P9020328.jpg) (https://ibb.co/3m7VTcf)
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(https://i.ibb.co/bmn4Yrw/quote-artillery-adds-dignity-to-what-would-otherwise-be-an-ugly-brawl-frederick-the-great-90-74-93.jpg) (https://ibb.co/zxw3CS9)
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Dave- have you ever shot grape? At a rendezvous at Sooke, Vancouver Island, B.C. back in the mid 70's, there was a 3" cannon at the "shoot". The owners
went around and collected round balls from anyone who would make a donation along with minnie balls & powder. Well they loaded it up with powder???- and
likely 8 pounds of 'shot'. At 100yards distance stood the club's target stands, 6' x 30" wide, shoulder to shoulder having cardboard of plywood backing. I don't
remember which. At the "shot", every one of those racks were hit, waving back and forth at the impacts of MANY projectiles for a width of about 30'. It was an
eyeopener for us, thinking back to the various wars where such projectiles were possibly used. That would be devastating to advancing troops in formation.
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Glad he traded it Daryl
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"I just have to ask - do you have a pair of Belgians or Clydesdales to tow it around?"
Don't discount a nice Ardennes or Shire. :-D
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Daryl,
When I was younger (and knew everything) I fired cans full of old ball bearings (armor piercing as it turned out). Yes.....unbelievably lethal. Then I made chain shot....3 feet of chain with a cannon ball on each end and with a pound and a half of powder behind them. I only did this once and the recoil nearly got me. I also fired one round of bar shot....two half cannon balls with a doubled sliding bar between them. Not as bad as the chain shot, but still uncomfortably heavy recoil and a lot of expense and trouble to make the projectiles.
I'm a bit smarter now that I don't know everything..... ;)
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While waiting for the barrel to be lined, I am working on correcting problems with the gun carriage. When I built the carriage I found an old cast iron acme threaded jack in a junk yard. The 1 1/2" diameter threaded shank looked like a perfect elevating screw to me. So I cut away the female threaded section on the top of the jack and welded it into a plate to mount it on the trail of the gun carriage. I needed handles to turn the screw with so I drilled four 3/8" holes at the top pf the screw and silver brazed four pieces of steel rod into the holes for turning handles. Of course, that doesn't look very much like a real cannon elevating screw. To improve the look without a complete re-make, I machined four larger brass handles and drilled them out to slide over the 3/8" rods. The ends of the rods were then drilled and tapped for 10-32 brass screws to hold the brass handles in place. The mounting plate still needs some work, the hex headed mounting bolts need to be replaced with square headed ones, and the silicon bronze weld needs to be dressed, so there is a little more to go on this. The originals had a narrower cast brass mounting plate and female thread with only two mounting studs so....It's not perfect but I think it looks a lot better....Other part re-builds to follow.
(https://i.ibb.co/HdnYTNR/image-67228161.jpg) (https://ibb.co/ySW5FhK)
(https://i.ibb.co/4WHWDfw/image-67227393.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fMsMKSV)
(https://i.ibb.co/p3s7psN/image-50384897.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Bg7pR7v)
(https://i.ibb.co/RDX8kcC/image-50381569.jpg) (https://ibb.co/87ykL9j)
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I posted the following previously (back in October of last year) but it really belongs here now in this whole re-build thread....so pardon the repeat.......
Well, as part of my refurbishment of the cannon I built 50 years ago, I am replacing some of my high school era home made parts with more correct versions. I started off replacing the (home made*, hand bent*, sneezed together with an old stick welder) trail handles with some castings I acquired from Ken Creswell in Knoxville, TN. I had to drill new holes through the end of the trail for the 5/8" bolts that hold the handles on. But the trail is tapered on all four sides, so trying to get a hole to come out on the opposite side (without taking the whole gun apart and setting it up in a drill press) was a bit of a $#@* shoot. So taking a cue from Dave Rase and Mr. Boggs on their tools for putting lug holes through a rifle stock, I built a giant version with brass sleeves for various size drills. Here is the drill guide.......
(https://i.ibb.co/S604ycz/IMG-3486.jpg) (https://ibb.co/6yb7w8k)
And the guide set up for drilling the cannon trail.......
(https://i.ibb.co/GCqkNr2/IMG-3485.jpg) (https://ibb.co/VMsD5kS)
Trail handles installed.......
(https://i.ibb.co/jWjR495/IMG-3488.jpg) (https://ibb.co/9VdtYmv)
Later I tell the story of the new pointing rings on the end of the trail.....another story of replacing parts either left off originally or parts that were compromises way back when.
* When I started making all of the "irons" required to build a full size cannon, it became immediately apparent that I was going to have to make some compromises on the authenticity of what I was building. All of the original irons were either cast or forged and were well beyond my capability to manufacture as a high school kid in the garage in 1970. With no equipment except access to a cutting torch, a Wildcat grinder, hand drills, hack saws, a really old Lincoln stick welder, and a sledge hammer, I started making all the iron parts for the carriage as close to being historically accurate as I could. I didn't even have access to an anvil, but there was a manhole cover in the street in front of my childhood home. If an iron part needed to be pounded into shape, I would heat it in a mud forge I built in an old wheel barrel (to make it portable). With the forge set up it up in the front yard, and watching for traffic, I would take the hot iron out to the street and, using the manhole cover as an anvil, would pound the daylights out of it until it needed to go back into the fire for a reheat.....or until a car came along and forced me to stop for traffic.
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Great looking installation, Dave - but one thought: Put the bolts in from the top, as with an airplane. If the nut ever loosens, the bolt will stay in place - unless you start doing outside loops!
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I neglected to show the difference between the 50 year old "not so good looking" trail handles and the more historically accurate versions that I have installed now. Here is a photo showing one of the trail handles I made in 1970 and one of the ones I recently received from Ken and installed.....
(https://i.ibb.co/JF3Lv0J/Old-and-new-trail-handles.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2YZ2vm4)
On the subject of pointing rings.....In 1970 I had no way of making the two tapered steel rings that are mounted to the "lunette"/ trail plate assembly and were used to anchor a 5 foot long hickory handspike that is used to move the trail more easily in train. The smaller one of those rings is fixed and the larger one is pivoted, which was part of the complexity of making these originally. The "lunette" is the heavy steel shoe that follows the curved end of the wooden trail and the top of the trail, where the pointing rings are mounted, is called the trail plate. So the abbreviated version that I built in 1970 looked just like this....a 3/8" thick steel steel shoe (lunette) under the trail end and a 3/8" thick steel trail plate. No pointing rings. And the bolts holding the trail between the lunette and the plate were welded to the inside curve of the lunette. It looked like this.....
(https://i.ibb.co/jTwSKvw/Lunette-trail-handles-original-set-up-1970.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Tk0sXB0)
This is what a real lunette and trail plate should look like. I couldn't just buy the set because my trail is not exactly the right shape and size, so I had to begin by modifying what I had. So I cut away the original welded bolts and started to plan out how to use the purchased pointing rings and rework the existing "lunette" to accept the rings and new bolt spacing. You can see here that I had to weld the original bolt holes in the trail plate closed.......
(https://i.ibb.co/1LhjFSB/Lunette-bottom-view.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2ymHGbR)
(https://i.ibb.co/DzfZFpk/Lunette-side-view-2021.jpg) (https://ibb.co/zQVzgJb)
(https://i.ibb.co/jRfCHYk/Pointing-ring-modification-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/PQj2tyG)
(https://i.ibb.co/PcqNSRy/Pointing-ring-modification-2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/3pg7Jwb)
(https://i.ibb.co/QCSFBKt/Pointing-ring-modification-3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/k9bgnSv)
(https://i.ibb.co/ccxTN9B/Pointing-ring-modification-4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/WWsKcXh)
After heavy modification (i.e. a lot of welding and piecing of steel parts together) the set up is starting to look a lot more like it is supposed to. Here are the pointing rings with the hand spike installed.
(https://i.ibb.co/yfSsCz2/Pointing-ring-work-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/BzNsJhk)
(https://i.ibb.co/QCXqtxz/Pointing-rings-assembly-3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/SdJ1GZW)
(https://i.ibb.co/bWH3hX0/Pointing-rings-assembly-2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/gjv71J2)
You may also be able to tell from the above pictures that my original lunette just ended with a flat piece of 3/8" steel plate with a large hole cut in it. A real lunette has a very heavy ring. So I sawed off the end of the original lunette and started welding in place the ring cut from a huge 6 inch diameter eye bolt......
(https://i.ibb.co/vLC7Cm3/Lunette-start-of-fabrication.jpg) (https://ibb.co/frVhVtk)
(https://i.ibb.co/qRzFmK1/Lunette-modification-3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/dQSJkFK)
(https://i.ibb.co/txYDvhb/IMG-E3294.jpg) (https://ibb.co/z7PZB5S)
I still need to add a lot of steel to the underside of the lunette to get the taper that the originals had.....more cutting, welding, and grinding.....but no engraving ;)
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Daryl,
When I was younger (and knew everything) I fired cans full of old ball bearings (armor piercing as it turned out). Yes.....unbelievably lethal. Then I made chain shot....3 feet of chain with a cannon ball on each end and with a pound and a half of powder behind them. I only did this once and the recoil nearly got me. I also fired one round of bar shot....two half cannon balls with a doubled sliding bar between them. Not as bad as the chain shot, but still uncomfortably heavy recoil and a lot of expense and trouble to make the projectiles.
I'm a bit smarter now that I don't know everything..... ;)
Cans of ball bearings = canned grape so very similar to paper ctgs. for shot. Same result, keeping the shot cloud together a bit longer.
The chained and bar shot, we never tried. VERY interesting. Tks Dave.
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In days now long gone here in Huntington WVa there were (and are) two bronze or brass cannons that had a bore big enough to accomodate a PartiPac bottle full of blasting powder.There were 4 young guys seen earlier looking at on of the guns and later that night one o them went
off with a thundering boom and the barrel came off the concrete emplacement and the 8th Street intersection was full of smoke.While the police were trying to figure it out,an old style roadster cruised thru the intersection with 4 guys in it and on up to Crestmont drive.
This was in 1952 and the car is now J424,a Duesenberg roadster and if that number are entered into your computer,that car can be seen.
The cannons are still in place on 8th street. but the bores are full of concrete and only one of the participants is still alive. ;D.
Bob Roller
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Around here, just about every small town with a central square, commons, or park, has a memorial with cannons. Some are pretty spectacular and rare, in our town we have four Parrott's, one of them is serialized #2, I think #1 is somewhere in PA.
Robby
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Some, in Quebec.
(https://i.ibb.co/1rM0BVp/IMG-2341.jpg) (https://ibb.co/pfQ1NDs)
(https://i.ibb.co/jJVY3CD/IMG-2343.jpg) (https://ibb.co/CPJyVjQ)
(https://i.ibb.co/1QfgWND/IMG-2342.jpg) (https://ibb.co/JtR1JTf)
(https://i.ibb.co/GTW07bH/IMG-2347.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fvk2MPD)
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More - Halifax, N.S. I think. Same with the ones above.
(https://i.ibb.co/PmCZgDX/IMG-2351.jpg) (https://ibb.co/p0XvdhV)
(https://i.ibb.co/M2k0pkc/IMG-2361.jpg) (https://ibb.co/xCqTGq1)
(https://i.ibb.co/xSH1XJk/IMG-2370.jpg) (https://ibb.co/FbV5mgr)
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Someone asked me the other day where I came by the wheels for this cannon.......Originally I considered building a sea carriage for the gun as the solid wooden wheels were within my capability to make. However, I became enamored with the idea of a land carriage and thought I would take a crack at that version. The required wheels for a land carriage were the biggest problem. Living in Southern California, where a considerable number of western movies were made, one would think that wagon wheels would not be much of a problem to acquire. However, to find genuine wooden wheels that were in good shape and the right size turned out to be a huge issue. After traveling all over the San Fernando Valley, and looking at countless wheels that had been used as yard ornaments (and were therefore weather beaten to the point of uselessness) my Mother, by dint of tireless effort on the phone, finally located a huge antique warehouse (Dal’s Antiques) in Lawndale, CA. Having traveled down to Dal’s, I was initially disappointed when I asked about acquiring a pair of large, wooden wheels. The fellow I was speaking to said he didn’t have any wheels that size. But then he remembered that a full size, 19th century Gypsy wagon had just arrived from Europe. We went out back to look at it and it had four absolutely beautiful wheels that would have been just perfect for the cannon. But my initial excitement faded as I realized that I couldn’t use a whole Gipsy wagon and the antique guy couldn’t use a Gypsy wagon with only two of four wheels. As we both discussed the dilemma, he absent mindedly opened the door on the back of the wagon ….and there inside the wagon were two perfect condition spare wheels !! And both were equipped with the cast iron skeins that were needed for both ends of the axel !! So for $150, I became the proud owner of two oak wooden wheels that, although over 150 years old, were sound as a dollar and perfect for the cannon.
(https://i.ibb.co/jzWFGgN/Dal-s-Antiques-Lawndale-CA.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)
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These chase is all part of the adventure. Great story.
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This is such a cool and fun thread!
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This really is a great thread. I'll never have (or will) come close to a project of this scale, but its really cool to see someone do it and do it so well.
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Had a chance to work on the cannon rebuild a little today. While the barrel is out for lining at South bend Replicas I am working on fixing some of the odds and ends that I have never really liked about the carriage anyway. As I have mentioned, I do want to upgrade some things but not necessarily make the gun completely historically accurate. For starters, its the wrong kind of barrel for a land carriage.... :o Also, I have a certain nostalgic attachment to some of the things I came up with 50 years ago at the ripe old age of 17 or 18. In fact, some of the construction I am a little amazed by since I had so few hand tools and no machinery except a Sears table saw. Here for example are the "trunnion plates" that I came up with......On a real Civil War era cannon, the curved metal plates that cover the top of each cheek were forged of wrought iron and were held to the cheek with long bolts that had round heads on the top side and were tightened with square nuts on the underside of the cheek. In my case, I bent the trunnion plated out of 3/8 inch thick by 3 inch wide brass bars and held them in place with all thread rods capped on both ends with big brass washers and big brass hex nuts that I machined on a friends lathe. Although invented in the 1830s, hex headed fasteners did not really become common until the late 1800s. But I am sort of amazed that I could make the big brass nuts back then and i like the brass, so I will keep that arrangement.
(https://i.ibb.co/znvFr4h/image-50737665.jpg) (https://ibb.co/QbwkfKF)
In keeping with the way I did the trunnion plates and their fasteners, the "cap squares" (caps that held the barrel trunnions down onto the trunnion plates) were held in place by specialized long bolts. The rear one was called a "chin bolt" and was really more of a hook that held the back end of the cap square down. The forward one was called a "key bolt". It had a slotted top that fit through a square hole in the forward end of the cap square. A "key" was inserted crosswise to hold the cap square down. Not having the wherewithal to make those parts way back when, I made heavy, 1 inch thick blocks of brass with 3/4 inch diameter cross pins to hold down my version of cap squares. Here is how they were installed.....
(https://i.ibb.co/RpMNGYk/image-67200001.jpg) (https://ibb.co/7JTQxjd)
I'm going to keep those as well but I made them a little more graceful today by shortening them and knocking off the sharp corners. In addition, I cut a sort of a rounded key way in them and I will put small brass dowel pins perpendicular to the bodies of the four 3/4 inch cross pins to insure the cross pins don't fall out during transport.
(https://i.ibb.co/7N0wxyn/image-67218945.jpg) (https://ibb.co/M5JYyNc)
Not exactly HC.....but I would like to improve things a bit and yet not lose the character of how I did this a half a century ago..... ;)
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Looks pretty good to me, Dave.
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Well....it's been a long while since I had time to work on the big gun, but I've had a chance to start in again. Even though I went through the trouble to build a giant reamer and true up the bore, I still didn't like the stepped diameters at the last 6 inches of the breech. That was the way the barrel came in 1970 from Barney's Cannons, but I never really liked it and it did cause loading issues. So I got in touch with Barney's professional progeny, Jim Olsen, at what is now South Bend Replicas. After a long and delightful conversation, Jim agreed to rebore the barrel and then line it with a seamless steel tube. I kept the bore the same 2.75 inches although I had briefly thought about taking it up to 3 inches.....but then, the gun is expensive enough to shoot without increasing the ball size and powder charge. So, having a partial attack of sanity, I stuck with the original bore size.
I built a heavy duty crate and then shipped the barrel via Yellow Freight to South bend Indiana a few months ago and left it in Jim's tender care. It just came back a few days ago and I managed to get the crate home and open it up. Jim did a fantastic job and now I'm anxious to get the rest of the carriage work done so I can re-mount the barrel. Here are a few photos of the gun coming back home.....
(https://i.ibb.co/SVB5D4h/IMG-7498.jpg) (https://ibb.co/WBfGN4b)
(https://i.ibb.co/f8tnqfh/69032485512-60824465-A5-FF-46-DE-9651-94-D218-C27-CDF.jpg) (https://ibb.co/pWZRbct)
(https://i.ibb.co/r4MNd1W/69032486953-F41-C8-FC7-483-E-4577-AFC5-0-A368-DA52257.jpg) (https://ibb.co/qk9VJPZ)
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Absolutely extraordinary!!
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On a real cannon, the cap square covers the trunnion and keeps the barrel in place. The cap squares are retained on their aft end by a special hooked bolt called a "chinbolt". The front end drops over another specialized bolt called a "keybolt". An iron "key" would then be driven through the slot in the keybolt to retain the cap squares. When I built the gun 50 + years ago, I couldn't make the same arrangements. I simply made four solid brass blocks, connected to bolts through the cheeks, that the cap squares would drop over and round brass cross pins would be driven through to secure. Here again I could redo almost all of this attachment method and make the gun more historically accurate. But, in the interest or retaining some of the original character of my early work, I decided to just reshape the brass blocks and retain the round cross pins but modify the pins to lock into the blocks better and to be retained by chains just like the historical arrangement for keeping the cap squares and keys from getting lost.
Here are the four blocks, pins, and retention chains modified and ready to be installed. The eyes on the ends of the chains were made with short studs to be welded into the cap squares on an iron mounted gun. I had to weld lag bolts to the ends of the studs so that they can be screwed into the side of the cheeks......
(https://i.ibb.co/3T8bsTQ/IMG-7550.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2FLr6FH)
This is how the blocks and cross pins will look in place......
(https://i.ibb.co/QvKCgTM/IMG-7553.jpg) (https://ibb.co/jkrWNQD)
In preparation for mounting the stop chain I made up, I purchased the stop chain mount bolt from Ken Creswell at Cannon Parts Ltd. Unfortunately the bolt was about 1/2" too short if mounted where it should be on the trail. So I cut the bolt in half with the intention of welding in an additional 1/2" of 3/4" round stock. But when I cut the bolt, I realized (by the ease of cutting) that the bolt was probably made from 12L14 free machine steel. 12L14 doesn't weld very well at all due to the lead in the alloy. But now that the bolt was cut in half, I either had to make a new one or come up with an alternate plan....and the alternate plan was to drill and tap both cut ends of the bolt and add a piece of 1/2"-13 threaded rod to lengthen it. The side benefit is the now the length of the bolt is actually adjustable... :o
(https://i.ibb.co/zmsM2mV/IMG-7552.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fXMgNXd)
(https://i.ibb.co/sKTVfdX/IMG-7551.jpg) (https://ibb.co/D9BRJHj)
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I am trying to finish up a lot of the welding and iron work before I completely tear down the carriage and begin all the wood refinishing. The last major parts to be welded are the hand spike "D" rings and the last modifications to the lunette on the trail end of the stock. The "D" rings were usually "clinched" through the cheek by spreading the tips of the split retention bands that held the "D" ring and allowed it to pivot. The retention band legs on the "D" rings I had were not long enough to go all the way through the 3 inch thick cheek, so I cut off the split legs and welded on threaded rod. These will be installed through holes in the cheeks and then captured with square nuts. Here is the unmodified "D" ring.......
(https://i.ibb.co/whv5rzk/D-ring-unmodified.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)
Here are the modified "D" rings with one of the implement hooks that retain the aft end of the handspikes.
(https://i.ibb.co/fFKpkzx/D-rings-with-implement-hook.jpg) (https://ibb.co/B37Zy5C)
Here is one of the implement hooks mounted and with the handspike engaged for transport. The front end of the handspike goes through the mounted "D" rings....
(https://i.ibb.co/DR5NB1S/Implement-hook-in-place.jpg) (https://ibb.co/TgmZQwF)
The lunette I made 50 years ago was just hammered out of 3/8" steel plate and was uniform in thickness. A real lunette started off about 3/4 inch thick and then tapered over its length. I could have left the thickness of mine alone (after making the major ring modifications previously) but it bothered me some. Here is the edge of the lunette as (up side down) as I originally made it showing the uniform thickness.
(https://i.ibb.co/SxWy9dy/Lunette-edge.jpg) (https://ibb.co/7z8C6RC)
To increase the thickness and make the correct taper, I decided to weld on strips of mild steel of varying thickness and then grind the surface smooth. Here are the steel plates stacked on prior to welding. The thickest one is 3/8" and the rest all step down a sixteenth of an inch at a time to the last one....
(https://i.ibb.co/cwVXVsB/Lunette-edge-with-add-on-plates.jpg) (https://ibb.co/tzFPF1G)
I was clamping the plates in place getting ready to start the tack welding when all of a sudden my argon regulator on the TIG welding rig let loose and was leaking a huge amount of argon gas through the top of the flow meter !!!! So I had to stop with the welding and, since the regulator is 50 years old and no parts are available, I ordered a new one. However, being the partial pack rat that I am, while I am waiting for the new one to arrive, I am making the part required to fix the old one. The fun just never seems to stop :o
(https://i.ibb.co/Cm11dSC/Lunette-with-add-on-plates-3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/ZGLLsb4)
Not a welding issue, but I also re-bent the 50 year old prolonge hooks to look more like originals and then got them remounted in the correct position. Here is the new prolonge re-stowed on the hooks......just one more detail......
(https://i.ibb.co/w73GBMN/Prolonge.jpg) (https://ibb.co/T1pjYmB)
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It's (always) about the details!! Good stuff, Dave.
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Yep, making the parts to fix the welder so you can finish the original project that you needed the welder for. Is that what they call scope creep?
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YES.....SCOPE CREEP !!!! And I get that all the time from customers in the rocket testing industry......now I'm doing it to myself !!!
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Rebuilt the regulator today....fixed the original issue but then another problem with it developed... >:( I really don't understand....it's been working great for just over 50 years !!! (They just don't build these things like they used to !)
I'll finish fixing the old reg later. Luckily I ordered a new one and it came in today. So I set it up on the argon bottle and started in welding.....First passes.....
(https://i.ibb.co/RTFf3k2/IMG-7583.jpg) (https://ibb.co/s9fnKdj)
Then the edges
(https://i.ibb.co/kqDgbDQ/IMG-7584.jpg) (https://ibb.co/SVmXYmR)
(https://i.ibb.co/vjxjdhb/IMG-7586.jpg) (https://ibb.co/x7S7gYy)
Too late to start in with the grinding tonight but will try to get to it in the next couple of days. Then I will probably have to go back and fill in a few low spots before the final finishing. But at least the iron now tapers like a lunette is supposed to....
(https://i.ibb.co/N1mcJQh/IMG-7585.jpg) (https://ibb.co/wJw5P3H)
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I call that misery a “prerequisite”. In other words, I cannot fix a project until I fix my tool. Sometimes two tools. Like going to trim the hedges, but have to charge the battery first.
Great thread David. It has been fun to watch. 🙂 God bless, Marc
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What a fun thread. Some amazing fabrication and information on cannon structure. The Rocky Mountain Rendezvous has a cannon shoot at the event. Had 3 cannons last summer. Two of the teams were pretty accurate. Fun to watch the big bang. They also have a mortar that they use as a candy cannon for the kids. Blasts a bunch of candy into the center of camp for the kids to hunt. Thanks for posting all the pictures and information. Very entertaining and enlightening. Best of luck on the project.
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Started in on grinding the welded areas smooth. Only took about an hour to clean the whole thing up and I don't think I will need any supplemental welding.
Rough grind.....
(https://i.ibb.co/71T31kB/IMG-7589.jpg) (https://ibb.co/YLK5L0J)
Smoothed up with a 100 grit sanding disk......
(https://i.ibb.co/GQKDc2h/IMG-7590.jpg) (https://ibb.co/4R6LPTQ)
Edges cleaned up and now clearly showing the correct taper of the lunette from the pintle ring forward.....
(https://i.ibb.co/hdZt7RZ/IMG-7591.jpg) (https://ibb.co/94VC89V)
And re-installed on the cannon stock for a fit check.......
(https://i.ibb.co/X2PhQqz/IMG-7592.jpg) (https://ibb.co/w0q9kfK)
Not perfect but good enough for the underside of a cannon lunette. "In a workman like manner" has a slightly different connotation when working on an 1800 pound cannon vs a longrifle.... ;)
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I have to stand down for a while over the holidays.....traveling a bit for Christmas. However, when I get back I need to re-work the cap squares that hold the trunions in place. You can see from some of the photos that I have posted that, 50 years ago, I just machined a heavy walled brass tube that surrounds the trunion on each side. I took the tubes and the "ears" to an old time welder who TIG brazed all the parts together for me and did a magnificent job. This made an acceptable but incorrect cap square that has to come off the carriage with the barrel. But Now I would like to correct that by cutting the lower part of the tubes free and then TIG brazing that lower half into the brass bands that surround the cheeks. The brass bands are 3 inches wide and 3/8" thick, and being brass, suck away a lot of heat. I have watched dozens of youtube videos on TIG brazing both brass to brass and brass to steel, but no one is doing thick sections like this. I purchased silicon bronze rod (which is what I think the welder at Bast Brothers Welding used in 1970) and have tried several times to braze thick sections together, both with and without a lot of pre-heating, but have not had much luck yet. Anyone out there know how to do this ??
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That is a GREAT looking cannon, Dave.
Cannons are now prohibited weapons in Canukistan.
Still on the fence about this as long as they are not percussion fired they should be fine as this would make it “antique” classed
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Well.....I got caught up for a while in the Southwest Airline meltdown....stranded for a while in the LaGuardia airport in Brooklyn. Got to spend several extra days with my grandson though, so it was OK. Then back to Nashville and on to St. Louis before returning to SoCal. And then I fell right into a TON of aerospace work that has fully occupied my time since and will for a while. However, I did have a little time to work some necessary preliminary things that needed to be done before I take apart the gun carriage for all the wood refinishing.
Some of the "irons" still need to be mounted (like the sponge & rammer stop, the sponge & rammer chain, and the ear plate) before starting on the wood work. The sponge & rammer stop and chain hold the two rammer / sponge assemblies in place under the trail for transport. The ear plate and key hold the worm in place for transport. In order to locate these for mounting, I needed to have the sponge & rammers made up correctly....and it took a surprising amount of research to find the necessary details to make these correctly (I received a huge amount of help from the great folks on the web site https://civilwartalk.com/forums/ ). Then it took me a fair amount of time to find and order (from Maine) 1 1/2" ash dowels long enough to make the rammers. Long story short, I finally found the dowels, the required maple blocks to turn the rammer heads, and a sufficiently accurate way to make the sponges (without killing and skinning my own sheep !) Now that the rammer & sponge are close to being done (never thought that this part would take this much effort..... :o) I can locate and mount the irons on the underside of the trail.
So here are some of the parts in work......Trimming the maple blocks for the rammer heads
(https://i.ibb.co/F5rqxCP/IMG-7857.jpg) (https://ibb.co/9bD38SM)
Turning the blocks....this was a combination of doing some of the turning on a metal lathe and some on a wood lathe at much higher RPM...
(https://i.ibb.co/d0mbBpZ/IMG-7865.jpg) (https://ibb.co/KjKN6sn)
The completed rammer heads......the groove in the small end is for a copper band used to nail the rammer head in place and to help keep the thin end from splitting....
(https://i.ibb.co/b7JT4Dj/IMG-7866.jpg) (https://ibb.co/KmwdtSc)
(https://i.ibb.co/HzvQv85/IMG-7867.jpg) (https://ibb.co/1qVxVWF)
(https://i.ibb.co/fYzXcxS/IMG-7872.jpg) (https://ibb.co/HDfKJH2)
Rammer head mounted on the 1 1/2" dowel.....
(https://i.ibb.co/XtQxktk/IMG-7908.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Zxjz1x1)
I had to turn down the opposite end of the rammer shaft a slight bit to fit a lambs wool paint roller. Made of real lambs wool but much easier to use and replace than skinning a lamb and nailing the hide to the shaft.
(https://i.ibb.co/72GGsTz/IMG-7909.jpg) (https://ibb.co/MMRRFjh)
Had to borrow a friends lathe that had a head stock large enough to get the dowel through to do a nice job turning the taper to fit the socket on the worm. I could have "whittled" this to fit but lathe turning did a much better job of it.
(https://i.ibb.co/PCSx34D/IMG-7911.jpg) (https://ibb.co/3hJ1GWR)
Mounted worm.....
(https://i.ibb.co/Xkcc9jZ/IMG-7912.jpg) (https://ibb.co/5xbbdGW)
With the rammer & sponges done I will know exactly where to mount the required irons when I disassemble the trail from the axel and flip it over to attach these items. I will also be able to mount the key plates at the ends of the rammer & sponge chains so that they are in the proper location to hold the rammers and worm without being too loose or too tight.
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Great project, Dave. :o
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Most excellent my friend!
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James, Daryl....thanks :) This is certainly the largest ram rod I have ever made for a muzzleloader !!!!
By the way (because someone asked what the heck a "rammer chain" and an "ear plate" were), here are a couple of pictures. The long rammer chain is attached at the center plate to the middle of the underside of the trail. Each end is held around the rammer heads by the "toggle plates" mounted to the sides of the trail. One is shown connected to the chain on the left in the photo and the right side shows the end of the chain separate from the toggle plate. The ear plate shown in the middle is also screwed or nailed to the underside of the trail. The worm is held in place between the two "ears" on that plate by a key that has a tooth on it that passes through a notch in one of the holes in one of the ears. When the tag on the key swings down in response to gravity (God's "G"), it can't back out of the ear plate until turned to line the tooth up with the notch. (Second photo)
(https://i.ibb.co/DQVvdHR/IMG-7938.jpg) (https://ibb.co/L1kcKXZ)
(https://i.ibb.co/pjQ9TXx/IMG-7939.jpg) (https://ibb.co/hFctN8y)
This picture is from a sub-scale model gun built by someone else but it sort of shows how this is all supposed to work (except that the rammer chain on this model is not secured to the trail in the middle....but you get the idea.....
(https://i.ibb.co/RDWP096/Cannon-worm-mounting.jpg) (https://ibb.co/XCTpsb5)
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The creftsmanship is incredible. You need to post a video when you fire it. What a blast!!!
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In the beginning.....Man threw rocks at animals in order to eat.
Then, Man discovered throwing rocks from slingshots provided far more velocity.
Then, Man discovered Black Powder and it's ability to throw a rock (we call 'em RB's) at much higher velocities.
Then, Man discovered how to rifle a barrel and accuracy improved.
Then, Man (just like all me do) decided that bigger is better (except when it comes to bikini's....but not on my daughter) and the rocks....along with the pipes to launch them from.....got bigger.
I just made all of that up. But I think historically it's not that far from the truth!! 8)
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Steeltrap,
The "bigger is better" part is partially what led me to build a cannon in the first place. And I must say that building a muzzleloader that requires wheels and a block & tackle to move around is an experience in itself.
US Civil War Rodman cannon.....barrel weight was over 100,000 pounds....largest smoothbore used during the war....Apparently nothing much scared these guys when it came to trying to fabricate things "bigger and better" ! Imagine trying to make a gun like this without electrical power or hydraulics..... :o
(https://i.ibb.co/xGC7KqP/Rodman-Cannon-2.png) (https://imgbb.com/)
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The Rodman weighed 115,200 pounds. Fired a round shot that weighed 1,080 pounds, and used a service charge of 200 pounds of powder.
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YIKES!! Those incredibly large RB's didn't explode upon impact. I would guess (not being a military historical buff) that it's the "skipping" of that RB that cause's the damage.
I also would not wanna be the guy pushing the RR. IF the fuse guy get's to jumpy.......well......
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In the beginning.....Man threw rocks at animals in order to eat.
Then, Man discovered throwing rocks from slingshots provided far more velocity.
Then, Man discovered Black Powder and it's ability to throw a rock (we call 'em RB's) at much higher velocities.
Then, Man discovered how to rifle a barrel and accuracy improved.
Then, Man (just like all me do) decided that bigger is better (except when it comes to bikini's....but not on my daughter) and the rocks....along with the pipes to launch them from.....got bigger.
I just made all of that up. But I think historically it's not that far from the truth!! 8)
In between the sling and barrel, man had crossbows that launched small rocks and balls
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Dave, that is nice work spanning some fifty years. Here is an interesting book that you probably have, but in case you don’t, here’s a shot of the dust cover, published by the Naval Institute Press.
Richard
(https://i.ibb.co/jRrCSf7/0-A44-D340-E4-C8-47-BE-A836-27084788-AF2-D.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Wt2rL5S)
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Richard,
No...I don't have that book !!! I found it on Amazon for $63 (hardcover). But then I looked on Abe Books and found a hardcover copy for $5 plus $2.99 shipping. ;) Now I just need to find room on any bookshelf in my place...
Thanks for the tip.
Dave C
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I've got lots of room on my book-shelf. You can store it at my place, Dave. ;D
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Daryl, back in the early 1960's, our reenactment group built a naval gun using a5' section of a 3" 50 caliber barrel. It was very accurate, with all that rifling, out to 1,000 yards. Couldeasily hit a 4' square piece of plywood at that range.
I always wondered what happened to that cannon after we moved to Florida from northern VA.
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Still operating in slow motion due to work, but I did get the rammer / sponges and the worm completed. Because the shafts are ash, they didn’t take conventional stain very well. So I used iron nitrate and a heat gun to get the base color then toned it a bit with some oil based stain. Once that was dry I finished the shafts with a Waterlox tung oil varnish made for boat decks.
(https://i.ibb.co/HtQZrvG/FE001016-0613-4-DCC-BA70-02-DC3-F7-EC660.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0C35fNY)
(https://i.ibb.co/2FbrcyQ/6-A23-FE88-AB2-A-407-B-A690-7-E068-B2-BFCE2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/NF4qWsP)
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for some reason, those remind me of some of the 'swash-buckling' movies from the glory days of film-making. Everything in some of those movies seemed to be finished to a very high degree. They do look great tho'!!
But hey, are those paint rollers? (Yes, I know they are! Just pulling your rammer chain!)
BTW, is that a finished concrete floor? I'm in need of some direction for my next 'chore'.
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Tater,
Yes....they look freshly finished now, but they won't after being used a few times. When you burn a half to a full pound of black powder with each shot, things get dirty really fast !!
And yes, it is a painted concrete floor (in my shop). Lots of options for finishing concrete and I could't decide what to do for a long while. I finally just picked a product and went with it. This is the stuff I used. Seems OK so far. Easy to rejuvenate and a lot less trouble and expense than epoxy.
(https://i.ibb.co/C8y6hyh/59-F9-C163-8-D53-4-E0-C-87-F6-ABC60-A9-AA74-F.jpg) (https://ibb.co/dMvtGvG)
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(https://i.ibb.co/v4CkHHY/storage-3132-3633-DCIM-Camera-20181128-162222.jpg) (https://ibb.co/b5jXPPJ)
(https://i.ibb.co/RQMR0Rf/storage-3132-3633-DCIM-Camera-20181128-161448.jpg) (https://ibb.co/j3xnMnm)
Your work is very interesting.
Not up to your scale , these are 2 - 1" bore cannons my father made in 1972. They are tool steel of some type, he worked for a large Proto tool company. There may or may not have been episodes of cannon fire in town that involved lots of burning paper and smoke...oh and a police response. Fortunately the Chief of Police was a good friend. He even borrowed the cannons for different police events.
Keep on with the posts.
Don
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Don,
Thanks for the pictures….. great cannons!!! There is just something very appealing about the shape and power of muzzleloading large bore guns. Your Dad did a great job on these two….. and it is almost universally true that having a friend in the local police department is a good idea if you’re a cannon owner. ;)
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As an old Civil War reenactment artillery group guy ( I was the loader on a full scale 10 pounder Parrott rifle), I am very much enjoying this thread and your build. Keep up the good work!
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Barry,
Thanks for the encouragement. The next thing I need to do is strip the old finish off the trail and cheeks, reshape some of the wood work, mount the irons and then refinish it all. This is usually not a problem here in Southern California but we have been having an amazing amount of rain lately and I need to do most of that work outside. As soon as the weather clears, I'll get started.
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Well....it's May now and I am still busier than a one legged man in an a$$ kicking contest. But to take a mental holiday, I spent a few afternoons back working on the cannon rebuild. I started by disassembling the cheeks from the trail. Each cheek is 3 inches thick and about 34 inches long. Made of solid oak, they are fairly heavy. Once off the trail, I wanted to complete the last drilling that was needed to install the "D" rings that hold the handspikes in place on each side. The cheeks were too big to set up on my drill press, so I drilled a 3/4" thick piece of aluminum with two 3/8" holes spaced correctly for the "D" ring to act as a drill guide. I positioned the guide in place and clamped it to the cheek. The guide made sure the hand drilled holes were properly spaced and perpendicular to the cheek surface.
(https://i.ibb.co/mJrDrFp/IMG-8456.jpg) (https://ibb.co/TcDvDqy)
(https://i.ibb.co/5Lg5MD5/IMG-8458.jpg) (https://ibb.co/njNDg2D)
However, then I realized that I was not yet done drilling holes. I had not mounted the retaining "eye pins" and chains that would retain my version of the cap square and key retainers. In my case, the chains would keep the brass cross pins from being lost if they managed to work free during transport. Here the eye pins and chains are mounted in the additional holes that had to be drilled.....
(https://i.ibb.co/r4Ns8Sg/IMG-8501.jpg) (https://ibb.co/FgCVZM9)
(https://i.ibb.co/mGzWWH9/IMG-8502.jpg) (https://ibb.co/f20wwCk)
Also shown are the hand spike retained by the "D" ring forward and by the handspike washer hook aft.....
(https://i.ibb.co/gVYJwWk/IMG-8503.jpg) (https://ibb.co/nCpjf1x)
(https://i.ibb.co/6DB3Hkj/IMG-8504.jpg) (https://ibb.co/HGdWtj5)
Between the cheeks and the forward end of the trail are three giant washers / spacers called "rondells". They hold the cheeks in the proper spacing for the width of the barrel at the trunions. Traditionally, they were made of cast iron. When I built the cannon as a high school student 50 plus years ago I just used 1" thick disks of aluminum and drilled them in the lathe with a 1/2" center hole to allow for the passage of the long bolts that held the cheeks in place. What I didn't know at the time was that the front two rondells are really just spacers, but the rearmost one had MUCH larger protrusions port & starboard (i.e. on either side). As the cannon is fired and recoils, the trunions transfer the recoil energy to the cheeks and the cheeks transfer it to the trail. The protrusion on the rearmost rondell were there to distribute that recoil energy over a much larger area and keep a heavy charge from damaging (splitting) the trail. Sort of like the difference between hitting a log on the end grain with an axe blade or a baseball bat.
Although I had never had a problem even with a full charge (i.e. a 3 1/2 pound ball and a full pound of powder) I thought I would remake the rear rondells more like they were supposed to be. I bored two of them in the lathe to an inside diameter of 1 3/4" and shrunk fit two 1 3/4" diameter center pieces to take the recoil shock. These are the original rondells.....
(https://i.ibb.co/Cn1z5Fz/IMG-8507.jpg) (https://ibb.co/brWPgnP)
And here are the two rear ones modified with the much larger center pieces......
(https://i.ibb.co/hFFfRyd/IMG-8509.jpg) (https://ibb.co/b55JgPv)
This view shows the side of the trail where the rondells are mounted between the cheek and the trail.
(https://i.ibb.co/sqKd8Vh/IMG-8508.jpg) (https://ibb.co/tDqTVJS)
The next problem was how to bore the larger holes required for the modified rondells on center with the original 1/2" through holes. Without a center most drilling methods would have a problem maintaining a concentric bore. I thought of plugging the through hole with an oak dowel and then using a spade bit to drill the larger bore. But in rooting around in all of my various drilling tools, I stumbled on a 1 3/4" Forstner bit. It still needed a center.....or did it ? I ended up drilling a 1" thick piece of hardwood with the bit and then making a centering tool that would hold the drilled hardwood square concentric with the 1/2" through hole while I screwed it to the cheek. The the bit was held concentric by its outer rim rather than by its center point while boring out the larger diameter. The trick worked fine on both cheeks.....now I just have to drill the rear through holes on the trail to match.
(https://i.ibb.co/4smKJ0n/IMG-8511.jpg) (https://ibb.co/N1Vt7Gd)
(https://i.ibb.co/86Hxppj/IMG-8513.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Ln3gWWC)
(https://i.ibb.co/nLxdTpJ/IMG-8514.jpg) (https://ibb.co/cr4fPqn)
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As I mentioned early in this thread, Jim Olsen at South Bend Replicas (SBR) was re-boring and installing a steel liner in the barrel I bought from "Barney's Cannons" (the precursor of SBR) in 1969. Although done some months ago, Jim just got around to sending me some pictures of the barrel in work for the re-lining and I thought some here might appreciate seeing them.
Jim's initial inspection of the bore......
(https://i.ibb.co/bJfMPRG/Cannon-rebore-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/zJkTrHt)
The barrel set up in the lathe and the boring started......
(https://i.ibb.co/x5WJLRB/Cannon-rebore-2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0JTh2d6)
(https://i.ibb.co/bJxp0fY/Cannon-rebore-3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2NwX9bR)
The breech of the liner being machined and polished. It was welded into the end of the liner before installation.....
(https://i.ibb.co/LZs3xqy/Cannon-rebore-4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/NyGM9kq)
Liner being epoxied into place......
(https://i.ibb.co/jwt9kjW/Cannon-rebore-5.jpg) (https://ibb.co/DMdPfj8)
The liner all the way in.......
(https://i.ibb.co/jrqzx8D/Cannon-rebore-6.jpg) (https://ibb.co/TgJ1nwt)
Liner trimmed to final length.....
(https://i.ibb.co/Qm7wMNJ/Cannon-rebore-7.jpg) (https://ibb.co/JkWJH7c)
The original gun was "as cast" and Jim noticed that the muzzle was not very round as it was turning in the lathe for boring. He lathe turned the muzzle area and neatly blended the newly shaped muzzle into the rest of the gun's contour.....
(https://i.ibb.co/gFKkNwT/Cannon-rebore-8.jpg) (https://ibb.co/935Q62T)
Painted and ready to ship back to me.....
(https://i.ibb.co/dcqzdvV/Cannon-rebore-9.jpg) (https://ibb.co/7z56wDZ)
(https://i.ibb.co/9y75rBW/Cannon-rebore-10.jpg) (https://ibb.co/YfxsLJh)
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It has been a year since I had any time to work on finishing the re-build of this cannon and two years since I started the project. I am determined to have the gun back together and operational by the 4th of July this year. When I had to stop work last year I was in the midst of upgrading all of the "irons" on the carriage. I had completed rebuilding or replacing several items but had stopped short of a few that remained. Some of the items that needed to be replaced were the axel strap and the the two under straps that hold the instrument hooks. The axel strap runs along the underside of the trail and surrounds the axel where the trail rests on it. On a real 12 pound Napoleon, it was made out of half inch thick iron about 3 inches wide. The two under straps, also made of half inch thick iron, attach to the underside of each cheek and surround the axel as well. The forward end of the under straps was forged into a tube that supported the instrument hooks that held rammers and a worm.
When I built the gun in 1970, I could heat and bend quarter inch thick iron straps to form these parts. But with my "wheel barrel full of burning charcoal" forge, and using the man hole cover in the street as an anvil, I couldn't quite make the parts out of 1/2" steel and bend them to fit properly all by me "onesies"....so I made them 1/4" thick and they have always looked a little on the "whimpy" side. So I thought about just remaking them out of the correct thickness material and replacing the original ones entirely. However, in keeping with my desire to keep as much of the original pieces as possible, I decided just to double them up. Using the original 1/4" thick straps, I have started cutting additional pieces of 1/4" material and welding them to the original straps now resulting in the appropriate 1/2" thickness. Here is a picture of one of the under straps in the vise on my weld table with part of it doubled up. I am welding all along the seam on the edges so once the welds are all ground smooth, the part will look like it was made of 1/2" material all along. Basically, it is the same method I used to build up the lunette I showed earlier in this thread.....
(https://i.ibb.co/T8YzK3t/IMG-2133.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2tWX84d)
The next photo shows the right under strap (with all the edge welding completed but not yet ground smooth) and the original axel strap in the unmodified 1/4" thick condition.
(https://i.ibb.co/G9gkzzb/IMG-2132.jpg) (https://ibb.co/YXv8HHq)
I will get the welding done on the rest of this and then the grinding in the next few days. Once this is done, the next step is to start in on the wood work and refinishing of the trail and cheeks.
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Got the grinding done on one of the under straps......Now it looks like it's supposed to look. Not "whimpy" and more. May finishing the welding on the other parts today.
(https://i.ibb.co/c36JtHM/IMG-2143.jpg) (https://ibb.co/DW94kys)
(https://i.ibb.co/93fGhRx/IMG-2142.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Tqnr1zQ)
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Still working on the irons but needed to get started on some of the wood work modifications on the gun carriage so that I can get cracking on the wood finishing. Since the cheeks had been modified and completed previously, I started in with staining and applying the first coat of a tung oil sealer. The cheeks were sanded sufficiently to remove the 50 year old polyurethane finish and stain on the oak. I had toyed with the idea of just painting the carriage woodwork this time but decided to go back to staining with a tung oil varnish finish. Here are the cheeks with stain and a single coat of sealer.....
(https://i.ibb.co/R7KtMrm/IMG-2151.jpg) (https://ibb.co/V3GbhnZ)
Next I wanted to correct another 50 year old error. When I built the trail I had left the corners sharp. Actual gun carriages had the sharp corners planed to a substantial radius which helped reduce normal wear and tear damage to the sharp edges. I set up a router with an edge radius bit and converted all the appropriate edges to the correct radius.
(https://i.ibb.co/wRsSgg1/IMG-2153.jpg) (https://ibb.co/bPJsmmn)
Before I jumped into the labor intensive process of sanding all of the trail and axel surfaces, I wanted to complete the mounting of the last few items that are located on the underside of the trail. These include the ear plate (and its key - used to hold the worm for transport), the rammer chains, the rammer stop, and the toggles that capture the ends of the rammer chains on the sides of the trail.
(https://i.ibb.co/S7dSXZp/IMG-2155.jpg) (https://ibb.co/x8fZSrQ)
(https://i.ibb.co/5xBYKHF/IMG-2156.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Qjr8Dwd)
With those components mounted, all the trail irons were removed and the trail and axel were sanded down to bare wood.....
(https://i.ibb.co/svZ5WFC/IMG-2160.jpg) (https://ibb.co/mC3vNH0)
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After sanding the axel and trail down to bare wood, I realized that I had not drilled the large bore for the rearmost rondelle in the trail sides. I had done the larger bores in the cheeks (shown in a previous post on this thread) and so used the same centering technique to get the matching bores on the trail....
(https://i.ibb.co/VDJHs4m/IMG-2163.jpg) (https://ibb.co/92cw75t)
With that done, I did a little touch up sanding and then stained the trail and axel with Laurel Mountain walnut stain. By the way, I did the whole cannon carriage, trail, axel and both cheeks with a bottle and a half of stain. I had purchased 6 bottles not realizing how far a single bottle would go....so now I have enough stain to do three more full size cannons !! :o
(https://i.ibb.co/gSKJtm2/IMG-2165.jpg) (https://ibb.co/qNQpm7S)
When the stain had dried I started applying the tung oil sealer. Here the cheeks are being helped along in the curing process by placing them in the bright sun....
(https://i.ibb.co/8rnxb66/IMG-2171.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fkVN944)
I still have more iron work to do but while the sealer was drying I started painting the irons that are already finished.
(https://i.ibb.co/9hsNPdd/IMG-2167.jpg) (https://ibb.co/sCy27XX)
(https://i.ibb.co/XCpQbWJ/IMG-2168.jpg) (https://ibb.co/YL8C3Nj)
(https://i.ibb.co/ByWSvMV/IMG-2169.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fk6PZwY)
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(https://i.ibb.co/4FGjccb/0-3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Mg4Rbbz)
Here's mine. Just some found wheels, pressure treated lumber and a 304 SS barrel I made, but it it has entertained, huzzah'd and been the source of many hearing difficulties for family and friends going on near fifty years. i have enjoyed, and admired your work for years Dave, like Jerry Huddleston, truly inspiring.
Robby
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Robby,
Great cannon !!!! And yes, they are VERY entertaining. I'm not so worried about the hearing any longer. As an old Navy gunnery officer my hearing went south decades ago. Now when I shoot the cannon I just turn off my hearing aids... ;)
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I have spoken a lot about the "irons" on this cannon....and, indeed, there are many iron parts. But when I built this gun originally I made a lot of the most visible parts out of thick brass. Now, after 50+ years of neglect, I have decided to polish all 75 pounds of brass parts. (It's a good thing I spent so much time in the Navy where polishing brass was a full time profession :o)
This photo is of just some of the brass parts....many are still in the cleaning stage. The cheek bands are 3 inches wide and 3/8 inch thick. I machined all the nuts out of 1 1/2 inch brass hex stock and all of the 1/2" thick washers out of 2 inch round stock. Not shur how far I will take the polishing but the parts look a great deal better than they did even at this stage.
(https://i.ibb.co/ZVfbSRY/IMG-2183.jpg) (https://ibb.co/xD2rYKf)
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Dave your build is absolutely incredible and a monumental task. I wish I had the skill time left and funds to undertake such a task.
I have a funny story about building a cannon that involved my brother and his best friend in the '50s when they were in high school metal & wood shop. I hope posting a live link to the Muzzle Loading forum does not violate the TOS here but I tried to find anything about that so here goes.
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/anyone-have-any-interesting-or-funny-shooting-stories.162666/page-2#post-2340754
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Randy,
Fantastic story !!! I don't think I would have dumped the cannon in the lake but I understand your brother's motivation ;) Always being sure of your backstop is a good idea...and that is especially true for cannons !!!
Thanks for the link... :)
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Dave, your cannon is looking great and I’m looking forward to seeing it in its finished shape…bet you are too. I had to laugh about your hearing aid comment. I and I’m sure many others do too. We grew up in a different world and did not realize that the ringing in the ears after a shooting session was destroying our hearing. Of course it has its upsides like selective hearing and real silence.
Cheers Richard
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Richard.....my wife accuses me of "selective hearing" all the time. I usually just smile sheepishly and explain "I think I just had a battery casualty...." She never buys the explanation, but it's always worth a try. ;) :o ::)
Further progress.....refurbished the axel wheel skeins. Removed the old grease and repainted the exposed surfaces...
(https://i.ibb.co/5jkTj6v/IMG-2180.jpg) (https://ibb.co/R6N269P)
The 175 year old oak wheels are tight and sound but need to be repainted. Trying to decide how far I need to go with a refurb on them......
(https://i.ibb.co/p1D08RL/IMG-2181.jpg) (https://ibb.co/GdwxLt5)
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Brass work nearly all done......
(https://i.ibb.co/BwZjg0X/IMG-2187.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fQptCjh)
(https://i.ibb.co/TR8PpJT/IMG-2186.jpg) (https://ibb.co/S0nVWHx)
(https://i.ibb.co/FxXDb7S/IMG-2185.jpg) (https://ibb.co/znF4hfy)
(https://i.ibb.co/6b5ZL9v/IMG-2184.jpg) (https://ibb.co/rMJtN8b)
Axel strap and under strap welding done (except for two built in washers on the axel strap. Grinding on both under straps done.....need to grind the welds on the axel strap......
(https://i.ibb.co/jWbYb8C/IMG-2191.jpg) (https://ibb.co/4YKLKFb)
(https://i.ibb.co/LdQ3bw5/IMG-2190.jpg) (https://ibb.co/jkVSBKR)
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I decided to fill a few cracks on the wooden hubs prior to repainting. There were so few and they were so narrow that I decided they didn't need much more than a quick application of super glue. (These wheels were made in the 1850s....hard to believe they are in such amazing condition. Spokes, fellows, and hub all appear to be hickory. The fellows on each wheel are made of only two pieces bent 180 degrees !! I have no idea how that was done.) Applied the super glue to the surface cracks. After a little sanding here and there, prepared for painting by wiping the wheels down with lacquer thinner. Here they are ready for a repaint. Will use yellow again. Not historically correct but the way I did it 54 years ago.....and i still like it ... ;)
(https://i.ibb.co/6mXZb55/IMG-2212.jpg) (https://ibb.co/zr65bww)
(https://i.ibb.co/sbR9rJ6/IMG-2214.jpg) (https://ibb.co/GnpQj3t)
First coat of new oil base paint.......
(https://i.ibb.co/d5tXqqG/IMG-2219.jpg) (https://ibb.co/yQpK11W)
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Dave, I don't know if you noticed it, but this great thread just ticked over 10,000 views!
I'll bet that's the record for this site.
Keep going,
John
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John,
No....I had not noticed how many views this thread had. I am a little shocked .....I know it isn't a "long rifle".....but is is a muzzle loader and I thought people might be interested in the difference in scale between working on a pistol or rifle as compared to dealing with a muzzle loaded where the barrel alone weighs some 700 pounds.
PS....I just went back to an old post of mine about building a copy of a Jim Chambers rifle I did back in 2015. (I'm thinking about duplicating that same patchbox on a new .36 rifle.) I was astounded to see that that thread has been read 44,909 times !!! Unbelievable.... :o
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WOW, that's amazing! Maybe the 44,909 is the record?
You're certainly a popular guy with your in-depth threads!
John
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Iron work and blacksmithing are done. Paint is dry. Wood finish is dry. Wheels are refurbished and painted. All new square headed bolts are here from Blacksmith Bolt & Rivet.....no reason to hold back any longer on the re-assembly......
Iron work on underside of the trail....
(https://i.ibb.co/V2Zx02n/IMG-2224.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2gQS0gV)
(https://i.ibb.co/W6yTQvj/IMG-2225.jpg) (https://ibb.co/hyWqkFw)
Except for some touch up painting on the bolts and nuts, the lunette is assembled.....
(https://i.ibb.co/w6Y7QLK/IMG-2231.jpg) (https://ibb.co/C0W69tn)
The lunette top plate is supposed to be riveted to the bottom part of the lunette. I tried using bolts but it didn't look right....so I machined big bolts with heads that look like the rivets are suppose to look and then drilled some shallow holes in the perimeter so I could install the bolts with a small spanner wrench.
(https://i.ibb.co/PcnG7BY/IMG-2228.jpg) (https://ibb.co/8rpgWFB)
(https://i.ibb.co/fGTLM80/IMG-2227.jpg) (https://ibb.co/NnGbx1Y)
Flipped the trail back over, installed the wheels, and got the top side irons installed........
(https://i.ibb.co/jLtBNhQ/IMG-2230.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fCJBgMy)
Lifted the barrel out of its transport crate so I could paint the underside. Will paint the rest after the gun is mounted.....
(https://i.ibb.co/HV56tWn/IMG-2233.jpg) (https://ibb.co/56bmrNB)
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Hello
Just a cup of coffee in Monnikedam.
(https://i.ibb.co/xjnfSFh/IMG-2196.jpg) (https://ibb.co/85ydDYM)
(https://i.ibb.co/NLpSX00/IMG-2197.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0fZtk00)
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Adrie,
What a beautiful place to have coffee !!! A seaport complete with cannons.....my kind of place ;) When I was appointed to the US Naval Academy in 1972 the first things that I fell in love with were the beauty of the sea port town of Annapolis and the fact that the Academy grounds were covered with historical cannons.....
(https://i.ibb.co/FgTcCMp/Screenshot-2024-06-23-at-8-51-43-AM.png) (https://ibb.co/f4wZL5J)
Of course, here in the States, we have only been at this stuff for a couple of hundred years.....your history in Europe goes back thousands !! Thanks for the pictures !!!
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Was christened and baptized in the Academy chapel; and used to visit frequently when Dad's last duty station was in D.C. Several relatives encrypted there. Always a great place to visit; kinda hung out at the sailboat docks during summer.
Dave, I am still wondering about transporting your beautiful cannon. Traditionally, these artillery pieces were drawn by teams of horses.
Cannot envision you mounting a trailer hitch on that creation - can you educate use on how you get it to the range and back?
WOW! Sudden summer storm has my oak and maple trees really whipping!
Best to ya!
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Craig,
In 1970 I built a trailer for the cannon out of odds and ends we found in a junk yard and a lot of scrap iron. It had home made fiberglass fenders and everything ! You can see it partially in the foreground of this 1970 photo....
(https://i.ibb.co/5kRnHkS/IMG-E3109.jpg) (https://ibb.co/ZSMYDSF)
I eventually put a plywood deck and some low sides on the trailer and used it for years to haul construction materials. This time around I will buy a commercial trailer and make some better quality modifications to accommodate the gun.... ;)
Here are the latest photos. I still have a few incidental things to finish up but the rebuild is basically done. It only took me 54 years....
(https://i.ibb.co/n8r6Sfj/IMG-2274.jpg) (https://ibb.co/R42YWPc)
(https://i.ibb.co/PNp4jVL/IMG-2275.jpg) (https://ibb.co/VtyD9k1)
(https://i.ibb.co/gm6tyv2/IMG-2276.jpg) (https://ibb.co/bQ7N1H0)
(https://i.ibb.co/Yp33WSm/IMG-2277.jpg) (https://ibb.co/pJxxPTc)
(https://i.ibb.co/SnWhXCn/IMG-2278.jpg) (https://ibb.co/zRjyhvR)
(https://i.ibb.co/wNP6y9G/IMG-2279.jpg) (https://ibb.co/XZKJXh0)
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Just WOW!!
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Would be proud to be on your crew should you ever come east.
What does your fine State have to say about you having a real cannon? Or is it a "Don't ask/don't tell" thing?
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A thing of beauty Dave. I think I would keep it in the living room as a piece of furniture.
Cheers Richard
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Dave
That is very nicely done.
https://www.nhnieuws.nl/nieuws/320316/verwaarloosde-kanonnen-weer-piekfijn-in-orde-voor-viering-slag-op-de-zuiderzee
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Beautiful!
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That is pretty special, Dave.
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About time to burn some Powder!! ;D ;)
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Thank you....
Adrie....great video. Thanks
ScottH......yes....almost time....and a half pound (3,500 grains) at a time as well !! :) ;)
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Beyond belief. I’ve never seen a project like yours so carefully and perfectly executed. 54 years. Holy cow.
Dave, I won’t hesitate to say that you have earned a rather notable and honorable place in history.
Congratulations on an amazing accomplishment 🇺🇸
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Bob,
Thanks for the kind note. This took a while (as you can tell from the dates on the posts) but at least I didn't have to work on it for 54 years.... :o I've had it since 1970 but didn't get around to this rebuild / refurb until the last two years. For the other 52 I used it, and enjoyed it, just as I built it, although there were a lot of things I had always wanted to correct. I'm not sure where this cannon will end up when eight bells calls me out, but whoever ends up with it won't have to do another refurb for a long while....unless they leave it out in the weather as a yard ornament. :) ;) I will be shooting it in my front yard on the Fourth of July. I'll post some pictures...
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COOL! Looking forward to that. Might be at the lake but, I will see it anyway.
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Dave you never cease to amaze…
Your attention to detail and unwillingness to settle for “good enough” are quite admirable.
What an amazing piece!
Jeff
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Dave- a little suggestion if I may;
When you fire that piece off on your front yard, perhaps having a full orchestra playing The 1812 Overture would be fitting to accompany it 😁
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Jeff.....thank you.....still some things I didn't change that perhaps I should have.....but I am pleased thus far.
Bob.....while I didn't have a full orchestra, I did have a neighborhood audience a couple of years ago who loudly vocalized the part of the 1812 overture just before the first cannon firing at the top of their lungs......they paused for a second and then I punctuated their musical lead in with this........
(https://i.ibb.co/qjthBHp/IMG-2296.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Pj7Jx2g)
I will post some of the firing preparations here in a bit.....
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Dave- a little suggestion if I may;
When you fire that piece off on your front yard, perhaps having a full orchestra playing The 1812 Overture would be fitting to accompany it 😁
While I agree that accompanying that overture would be cool, Dave would have to build a lot more cannons, 4 or 5?
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Daryl,
I'm working on the two brass swivel guns and have two other barrels completed....just a couple more and a good reloading crew and we could do it !!!
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Preparations for firing.......
PVC former for aluminum powder bags.....
(https://i.ibb.co/rF4dLc8/IMG-2346.jpg) (https://ibb.co/XjSYd30)
Formed powder bag.....
(https://i.ibb.co/DWpYHDD/IMG-2347.jpg) (https://ibb.co/qj5C3MM)
(https://i.ibb.co/StDmJGM/IMG-2348.jpg) (https://ibb.co/6HctNLT)
Weighed 5 1/2 oz blank charge.....
(https://i.ibb.co/dDQ5rFw/IMG-2349.jpg) (https://ibb.co/m4HcGkV)
Charge secured in a cardboard powder case until use......
(https://i.ibb.co/wBbb0Px/IMG-2350.jpg) (https://ibb.co/NtkkVJH)
Charges, priming horn, linstock, and vent pricker ready for use......
(https://i.ibb.co/R38jw1Y/IMG-2351.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0C5sbkm)
I do have friction primers but they are several years old and I have a question about reliability. A primed vent touched with the linstock is "sure fire" !! (Although I use a few grains of smokeless powder in the vent pan as it catches light much quicker than black with the linstock.)
(https://i.ibb.co/b6TLDts/IMG-2352.jpg) (https://ibb.co/RgfPd83)
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Now those are quite high on the cool factor. :o
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Well, as luck would have it I had a partial emergency arise on the 4th and missed the chance to fire the complete gun that evening.....will make another run at it on New Year's Eve... ;)
Nonetheless, here are photos of the now completed rebuild project.....prolonge, loading implements, stop chain, hand spikes, etc., etc. All the final details are done and I can check this off the list pf projects that I have wanted to complete for a long time. Hope everyone had a great 4th of July !!!
(https://i.ibb.co/wK7GqVd/IMG-2395.jpg) (https://ibb.co/cNwf90y)
(https://i.ibb.co/QHVB7d1/IMG-2396.jpg) (https://ibb.co/YdS94Zq)
(https://i.ibb.co/fFqvzgQ/IMG-2397.jpg) (https://ibb.co/g9mVL26)
(https://i.ibb.co/gZ9Jr84/IMG-2398.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0y2rnLs)
(https://i.ibb.co/8DVwN93/IMG-2399.jpg) (https://ibb.co/4ZxLKpy)
(https://i.ibb.co/3fJgb0B/IMG-2394.jpg) (https://ibb.co/N14cqLZ)
(https://i.ibb.co/3M7VbXg/IMG-2392.jpg) (https://ibb.co/SdPHgTF)
(https://i.ibb.co/pJL8QCF/IMG-2393.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Pw6nMBH)
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Very nice, Dave. Now.... how about a football game, just for old times sake?
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BrianS,
Thanks for the note....I hope all is well with you. If I took the gun to a high school football game today as I did when you and I were at Chaminade, I would end up on the evening news with stories about SWAT teams and Bomb Squads and video of me being hauled off in handcuffs.....in today's Southern California, it wouldn't go well.... :( As you know, if you want to flash mob a store and rob it blind, or burn it down, or riot on a school campus....no problem here in So Cal. No reason for the police to respond since the DA's office won't prosecute anyway.....but fire a blank charge out of a cannon for everyone's enjoyment at a football game ?...They would haul me off in a heartbeat and prosecute to the full extent of the law....and then make up something else to prosecute me on.... :o :-\
But....just for old time's sake.....here is a photo of the cannon firing in those better days fifty four years ago when you and I were in high school. This was at the Chaminade Chatsworth campus in October of 1970......
(https://i.ibb.co/SwQksgS/Cannon-at-Chaminade-1970.jpg) (https://ibb.co/TMKQvGy)
All the best !
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ohhh, c'mon Dave. Put a pintle hitch on your truck and wheel that baby down main street. At a nice, slow parade pace, of course.
I want to watch the OJ style police chase on the nightly (non)news! :o
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Oh yaaa, love that picture in reply 100!
Wish I had something like that to light off around here!
John